


Ebb and Flow

by kibumy



Category: SHINee
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Swearing, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 02:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10402053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibumy/pseuds/kibumy
Summary: Request. Taemin comes home late and Kibum is beyond worried.





	

Kibum sat at the dimly lit kitchen table of the apartment, hands clasped and pressed against his lips, staring down at his phone. He’d been sitting like that for at least two hours now, waiting for a notification, a call–anything, from his boyfriend to know he was alright. Taemin told Kibum that he was going out with some coworkers for a drink after work, and that he’d be home before nine to watch their show together. That was six hours ago; it’s now two in the morning.

Kibum couldn’t help but think of the worst. Has he just forgotten the time? Did he get behind the wheel after too many drinks? Was he… with someone else? Kibum shook off the last one, it was too painful to even consider. Kibum and Taemin were in the midst of cleaning up their relationship, and attempting to start new again. They’d had a massive falling out that practically destroyed them both, but were forgetting their differences and were trying to regain each other’s trust. This has been going on for about three weeks, and it seems to have gone smoothly until now.

He’s not even trying to call Taemin anymore. The calls began going straight to voicemail about an hour ago. Kibum wonders if he should contact the police, let him know he hasn’t returned home by the time he said he would. ‘What are you, his mother?’ Kibum thinks, feeling that familiar lump in his throat form when he’s trying to hold back tears. His jaw clenches as his mind wanders back to the thought of Taemin drunkenly staggering off with some other person. Was that his intention this whole time? To go blow off steam from their trainwreck of a relationship? Kibum’s brows furrowed as he felt hot tears stream down his cheeks. ‘Shit– overthinking again.’

Kibum was startled out of his thoughts as the apartment door jostled and swung open to reveal a heavily intoxicated Taemin. Kibum jumped from his seat and sped to the doorway where Taemin leaned with his head in his arm, completely out of it. The keys in Taemin’s hand dropped to the floor.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Kibum shouted as he grabbed Taemin by the collar, watching his head loll back from Kibum’s grip. Taemin couldn’t even focus on him. “I waited hours for you, damn it! Where the hell were you?! I was worried sick!” Kibum yelled directly into Taemin’s face, trying to elicit some sort of reaction from him. Taemin stared back, but said nothing. Kibum’s lip quivered after the lack of response, and angrily let go of his collar. He watched Taemin’s body thump against the door and slide down, now sitting against it. Kibum took a step back and put his arms behind his head, feeling the tears swell in his eyes as he struggled to breathe. He had to take a moment to calm down before he did or said something he’d really regret, and walked into the kitchen for some space.

Kibum rubbed his weary eyes with his palms, exhausted from the hours of sleepless worry when he heard a sniffle come from the doorway. Kibum turned to face Taemin who was still slouched on the ground, his face buried in his arms. He could see Taemin’s body shaking from silent sobs.

Kibum approached Taemin hesitantly, worried that he might’ve already gone too far. Taemin lifted his head and Kibum could see the tears have reddened his eyes and wet the sleeve of his sweater. Taemin’s breaths came in short hitches from crying so hard.

“Kibum, I want to make this work…” Taemin whimpered, “I’m so sorry I worried you, I fucked up…” Taemin trailed off as more sobs wracked his body. “I just love you so much,” he managed to get out before another wave of tears washed over him. Kibum stared down at him, surprised at the display of such raw emotion. He’d frankly never seen Taemin cry as hard as he was right there in front of him. It hurt him so much to watch.

Noticing Taemin was nearly gagging in between sobs, Kibum leaned down and carefully lifted him from the ground and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. They walked wobbily to the bathroom where Kibum had his boyfriend kneel in front of the toilet, knowing he was going to be sick within a few minutes. He must’ve not had that much to eat while he drank, because Taemin was unsteady even kneeling there.

“Stay here, okay? Try and make it into the toilet,” Kibum sighed, running his hands through his own hair. The younger man rested his head on his hand, eyes closed and breathing slowly. Kibum got up and hurried to the kitchen and searched around in the fridge for the ginger they’d used the other night for their dinner. They still had a good piece left, and Kibum quickly peeled it over the sink with a knife, then chopped it up into a few smaller pieces. He gathered the pieces into his hand along with a cup from the pantry, and made his way back to the bathroom.

From the looks of it, Taemin had just gotten sick and was struggling to stop wretching; his body was shaking and sweat had started forming on his forehead. Kibum put the glass and the ginger down on the bathroom counter and knelt beside his boyfriend, rubbing his back and cooing softly to him.

“I’m here, Taemin, it’s okay. I know it hurts babe. Take deep breaths, you’re alright…” Kibum whispered, feeling how hard Taemin was shivering. The younger man had stopped gagging for now, but was struggling to catch his breath. Kibum stood up and ran him a glass of water, and crouched down to hold it to Taemin’s lips, letting him drink slowly before Taemin took the cup into his own hands. Kibum grabbed one of the pieces of ginger from the counter and held it to his boyfriend’s mouth.

“Here, babe. Chew on this, okay? I’m gonna go get you a blanket,” Kibum said softly, and Taemin took the piece into his mouth right out of his boyfriend’s hand, making Kibum smile tenderly. The older man swiftly walked across the hall and grabbed a comforter and spare pillow out of the closet and wrapped it around Taemin, setting the pillow down beside him. Taemin nodded, and watched as his boyfriend searched through the bathroom’s medicine cabinet from some ibuprofen, pouring a few capsules out and handing them to him. Taemin swallowed them down harshly with a gulp of water, shuddering hard.

Without saying a word, Taemin deliriously adjusted the pillow and laid himself down on the bathroom floor, curling up with the comforter. Kibum knelt down beside him and ran his fingers through his thick hair and cooed softly to get Taemin to relax and fall asleep. Kibum sighed, looking at the situation his boyfriend was in. He felt bad for him, but there was still that doubt lingering in the back of his head that this was all just drunk talk, and that he wouldn’t actually change. Kibum pushed that thought back for now and focused on taking care of his boyfriend. That was his objective for the night.

“I don’t deserve you, Kibum…” Taemin faintly whimpered, eyes still closed. Kibum froze for a second, taking in what he’d just heard, before continuing to run his hands through Taemin’s hair.

Once he could hear Taemin snoring softly, Kibum got up from his spot on the floor and turned the bathroom lights off, heading off to their bedroom to get some sleep. It had been a long night, and by the time his head hit the pillow, he was out.

Kibum slept in the next morning, unaware that someone had crawled into bed with him. The golden sunlight from the window had begun to illuminate the room brightly, waking him up from his deep sleep. A few seconds of peace went by before the thoughts from the night before crept back into his mind, making him sigh loudly. Kibum jumped when he heard someone rustle beside him, who he must’ve woken up. It was Taemin, and he must’ve crawled into their bed at some point last night. Kibum turned in bed to face taemin, whose eyebrows furrowed as he adjusted to the bright room. Taemin groaned as he placed his index finger to his temple, evidently hungover. Kibum watched him quietly as he opened his eyes, looking right into Kibum’s.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Taemin rasped, although he looked obviously more exhausted than Kibum. The older man emotionlessly looked at Taemin, wondering if he remembered anything from last night.

“How are you feeling–”

“Kibum, I love you so much.”

Kibum was surprised by the sudden interruption. Taemin bit his lip and took a deep breath before continuing.

“There’s probably nothing I can say to make you feel better about me, but I remember everything I said last night. I meant it all…” Kibum watched as tears filled Taemin’s eyes, dripping sideways down his face and onto the pillow. Taemin sniffled softly and took Kibum’s hand into his own, intertwining their fingers gently. “I want to make things work between us. I don’t want to lose you again… I’m so sorry.”

Kibum felt the rush of tears flood his vision and they both embraced spiritedly, still lying in their bed. It was like something inside of him had just clicked; the floodgates had broken open. Taemin ended up on top of Kibum, hugging him hard as he cried into the crest of his boyfriend’s neck. Kibum wrapped his arms around Taemin’s torso and locked them in place, never wanting to let go. They laid like that for nearly an hour, crying softly together, tears staining their clothes and bedsheets, enveloped in each other’s body heat, feeling each other breathe.

“I love you too, Taemin,” Kibum finally broke the silence, and Taemin lifted his head to look at him in his eyes. The older man reached his hand up to brush Taemin’s hair behind his ear and the tears out from under his weary, reddened eyes. “We can make this work.”

Taemin smiled warmly, relieved that Kibum would stay with him. Their lips collided and they kissed passionately, feeling each others emotions ebb and flow back and forth between them. They smiled and giggled within their kiss, running their hands over each other’s faces and through their hair, absorbing each texture like it was the first time. Both Taemin and Kibum knew this was the place they wanted to stay forever, and planned to keep it that way.


End file.
